Cong condemns Chinese envoy's endorsement of trilateral cooperation to resolve Indo-Pak issues

The Congress today condemned the Chinese ambassador's statement endorsing trilateral cooperation comprising India, China and Pakistan to resolve bilateral issues between New Delhi and Islamabad, and asserted that there was no scope for any third party intervention.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said the Government of India should also strongly condemn the "unwarranted suggestion" of the Chinese Ambassador, Luo Zhaohui, and that all issues between India and Pakistan would be resolved as per the Shimla Agreement.

"We strongly condemn the statement of Chinese Ambassador. We expect the Government of India to strongly condemn this unwarranted suggestion which has been made by the Chinese Ambassador. It seems that the Chinese Ambassador is not cognizant about India-Pakistan paradigm.

"We have maintained and continue to maintain that whatever issues or whatever outstanding issues there are qua Pakistan has to be resolved in a bilateral format. There absolutely is no place for any third party intervention insofar as India and Pakistan and its outstanding disputes are concerned," he told reporters.

The Congress leader said this has been the consistent position of all dispensations at the Centre since 1972 when the Shimla Agreement was signed between India and Pakistan.

Earlier, Chinese envoy Luo Zhaohui suggested the idea of trilateral cooperation between India, China and Pakistan under the aegis of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), saying it could "in the future" help resolve bilateral issues between New Delhi and Islamabad and help maintain peace.

He said "some Indian friends" had suggested trilateral cooperation comprising India, China and Pakistan under the aegis of the SCO, which was a "very constructive idea".

"Security cooperation is one of the three pillars of the SCO. Some Indian friends suggested that China, India and Pakistan may have some kind of trilateral cooperation under the SCO," he said in his keynote address on 'Beyond Wuhan: How Far and Fast can China-India Relations Go' at an event organised by the Chinese Embassy here.

Responding to a question on whether a trilateral meet between the Asian neighbours will help in solving the India-Pakistan dispute, he said he personally considered it "a good and constructive idea".